Lamborghini Urus To Recieve Twin-Turbocharged V8

A new report reveals that the Lamborghini Urus will make history by being the first Lamborghini product to arrive with a production twin turbocharged V8.

The folks at Autocar had the chance to sit down with Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann. During the interview, Winkelmann confirmed that the base Urus would come equipped with a 4.0-liter V8 that would feature a pair of turbochargers. A separate statement from the head of Lamborghini's R&D department, Maurizio Reggiani, explaned why the company chose to use forced induction for this engine versus a naturally aspirated or supercharged setup.

"We decided that a turbo for a super sport SUV is the best choice. The engine must be light and powerful, and with the capability with this torque at low revs to allow the car to be 'elastic' in every type of condition." While Reggiani's statement did not include technical details or exact horsepower numbers, he did confirm that the engine will be exclusive to Lamborghini, and will not be used in other vehicles in the greater Volkswagen empire; that move would preserve brand identity, while making the engine more exclusive at the same time. His comments also mentioned that the Urus is being developed to go off-road. This particular feat was achieved by only one other Lamborghini SUV, the limited production LM-002, which was originally designed for military applications before eventually being released into the civilian market.

Winkelmann was also quick to add that a two-wheel drive version of the Lambo would simply not be offered because it would not be "authentic". I am not sure what he means by "authentic,", but the big Lambo can be expected to offer an off-road experience that will be on par with others in its segment rather than the more function-oriented entries, such as the Jeep Wrangler and the soon to be axed current generation Land Rover Defender.

With stricter emissions laws slowly closing in on the company, Lamborghini revealed that it is not against the possibility of offering an Urus model that would be powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain. A gas/electric model isn't currently being developed, but that can change if demand for the variant is strong enough, especially since the basic design of the Urus could possibly support some kind of battery pack arrangement in the future. However, look for this to most likely occur after the model is formally launched, and has a chance to embed itself in the marketplace, especially when the Aston Martin DBX and the currently unnamed Rolls-Royce SUV make their respective debuts.

The Lamborghini Urus is expected to go on sale sometime in 2018 with its auto show debut taking place earlier that year. Pricing should follow the pace of rivals such as the Bentley Bentayga and be in the six-digit range. However, despite this lofty figure, Lamborghini is confident that it can sell at least 3,000 copies of the Urus in worldwide markets each year, with the bulk of sales taking place in key markets such as Asia, the Middle East, and the U.S. These three markets are key areas for many of its rivals, and Lamborghini would certainly love to take a sizable slice of the sales pie with the Urus.